Battleground Bihar

An election according to former election commissioner T.N. Session is choosing the bad from the worst. And in case of Bihar, it has always been about supporting the powerful tyrant to ensure security. In a land, infamous for dacoits, scams and everything wrong an election does little to help the chaos. As the JDU lead alliance of Bihar government approaches its 60th month in power, Bihar is gearing up for the battle in its backyard in the month of October.

A clear majority for power is not really a possibility in any elections in India, alliances are just a way of life in the Indian polity, and so are ideological rifts causing the alliances to break. No party would be in a position to contest or claim single majority on the 243 seats in the state elections. But Nitish Kumar the much needed messiah for Bihar’ economic growth has in someway started to revolutionize the economy thus promising stability for the state and his government after the dark ages of Lallu clan’s rule on Bihar. Investors seem to consider Bihar as a option, a probability which was negligible till a few years ago. Eminent industrialist Anand Mahindra has lauded Nitesh’s efforts to revive the Biharian economy. The streets are safer, dacoits and gang lords are either shot down or contest polls from their barracks in state jail. All seemed going good until June 13 when all hell broke loose on the alliance.

BJP’s Patna rally witnessed an unprecedented support for their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi (http://lifemyteacher.blogspot.com/2010/07/re-building-house-piece-by-piece.html). BJP saw a real chance at taking up the mantle and squeezing the last drop out of the alliance; meetings and reactions followed. With both the parties locking horns it was left to the senior leaders such as Sharad Yadav from JDU and Lalkrishna Advani to come out from the Delhi headquarters of the BJP after weeks of negotiation to announce the unity within the alliance. Congress on the other hand had already smelled blood. Even though “Maya Raj” Uttar Pradesh was an ideal platform for the congress prince to launch his blitzkrieg, an opportunity to conquest on a state which is third largest contributor of MP’s to the Lok Sabha was too good to ignore. The congress could use every Lok Sabha seat in its bid to centre in 2013 elections when the prince would lead the party in the battle fray.

It is also important for Congress to win the Bihar seat as a developed state would ensure drop in immigration of local population to developed Congress lead states such as Maharashtra, New Delhi etc. where local population is infuriated with the continuous influx of these immigrants. Immigration has caused severe problems leading to rise in crime, per capita population and stress on civic amenities in these states. The fissure in Sena – MNS fractions demolished the strength of Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra resulting in a Congress win in the state elections in November last year. The Congress would be hoping for a similar splinter in the BJP-JDU alliance this time around. After all we learn from our mistakes and we convert our mistakes into lessons. One such lesson that we learned from our history is – “Divide and rule”.

Only time would tell if Congress reigns in Bihar or would Nitish get his due credit and an extension to continue his work.